“A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do.
The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you."
There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.
Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.”
—Frederick Buechner
When you live in a context that is dominated by another religious tradition, it is easy to see how unique the gospel of grace is. If you have eyes to see it, that is — stay too long and it’s very tempting for your faith to slide into the same grooves of religiosity as everyone else. They say, after all, that you become reflections of the people you spend time with most. And I guess it’s the same with churches — they can easily conform to the cultural waters everyone is swimming in, until there is little left to differentiate. Unfortunately that is the same with much of Pakistani church — there is an infiltration of many surrounding values: the legalism of Islam, the corruption of local business practices, the ritual of South Asia.
But it’s grace that has a way of emerging unexpected from the margins and bursting up where it’s least expected … like unanticipated flowers growing in the middle of mud or garbage. And I’m so grateful that it’s grace that’s the heart of the Christian message — not laws, not right action, not the level of our belief. Grace. Because, in my own experience, it’s grace that is the only thing that is capable of deeply changing us.
This week I’m so grateful for the grace that God has given again and again. With one month left to go, I have been grateful for some new ministry opportunities that have emerged. In particular, I’ve had the privilege of being able to go along to an orphanage every day and teach a Bible lesson and some English. It feels like being back in public primary schools teaching SRE — the kids are just as excited, we do worksheets and stories with pictures and songs and games. And I’m loving the chance to have a group to invest into each day.
(It’s been an interesting balance as I’m doing all this without the permission of the controlling church leaders (my host family advised me not to tell them as they knew I wouldn’t get permission due to church politics) and so I’m having to be somewhat secretive about it … which feels very strange given I’m not doing anything wrong, immoral or illegal. I’ve also heard that many different churches, when they heard that a foreigner is doing ministry here in this area, had asked for me to preach … but each time they were told no, simply out of the ‘power play’ of a particular person. 🙄 Even with the opportunities that have come up within the church itself (I’m helping the pastor with learning how to translate sermons between English and Urdu), I get told, “don’t tell ‘so-and-so’ as they will cause issues about this.” (!!!) Ugh, church politics!! Hence why I’m so grateful that I’m able to make the most of this ‘secret ministry’ in the orphanage.
Anyway, Here are some photos and videos. 💯
⬆️ If you’ve been in youth group with me, you’ll recognise this as ‘the shoe game’ … it turns out fun can be sometimes translated easily anywhere in the world! 😉
I’ve also had to figure out afresh that grace is not just something that God gives, but that we also must allow ourselves to receive. I’ve had stomach issues again this week (I feel like I tend to be writing this in each update haha!) and while I think I’m slowly coming out the other side now … it has been a deep wrestle between my desire to ‘do’ and a willingness to accept that God knows my situation and my inabilities … and that I can trust him with it. If you’ve ever had any ongoing health challenge, you will know the wrestle between trying to ‘live normally’ and fighting the tiredness and the physical limitations of it. Not only in health, but this is also in the limitations of my language deficiencies, my cultural faux-pas, and the limitations that have been placed on me by others. It’s been a lesson this week to remember that God’s grace is present, here, in these things too. I don’t know what you’re facing … but I hope that the same rings true for you too — that God’s grace is as present in your weakness and feelings of lack, incapability, frustrations or weariness as he is in your strength and ability.
On a little side note — wedding events with my host family’s relatives have been going on this week. While it’s appreciated to be invited in to these experiences … it’s a strange feeling to be included in family events with relatives that are strangers to you … but I’m having to trust that this is a grace too. Since family is given such extreme importance in Pakistani society, then these invitations have been a gift of my host family to graciously include me as a family member.
I’ll finish with this photo below ⬇️ … I saw this white lettering on the back of a rickshaw in my neighbourhood, and I loved it so much that I rushed to click a photo before it trundled out of view. The sign on the back translates to something like, “There is one Master of everyone … only your grace is enough for me.” And so it is. May you learn, like have had to (the hard way), that his grace really is enough. Enough in our weaknesses. Enough in the opportunities. Enough in the little conversations. When you believe the radical idea that this Master of everyone is a Good Father, wanting to give grace … it changes everything.
Each week, I’m going to leave partnership information at the bottom. If you feel God leading you to partner financially in what I’m doing, my details are below. However, please don’t feel any pressure. As I said above, the most significant support of all has been the people who have stood beside me in prayer. Or sent messages of encouragement. Or passed on gifts to ministries over here. For each of these different ways that you have joined in the ministry and played an active role — thankyou.
BSB: 633 123 Acc: 168 679 249 Name: Noah Little